Cattle Day Care

Driving along rural roads in Mid-Missouri this time of year, I am awed by one of the world’s most pleasant sights – baby cows (which, from a distance, look like Chocolate Labradors scampering around the fields). All the cattle mothers are out lately, enjoying the spring weather with their very cute youngsters. 

When I first arrived in Missouri, I was amazed to hear that cattle actually utilize a clever form of day care. One or two cattle moms stay in one part of the grazing field watching over the herd’s calves. The other females are free to go off and graze or to sun themselves in the grass, coming and going to feed their littles as they please.  The mother cows rotate child-care duties so each cow gets a break, a rest, and time to graze. Ingenious! And, too adorable for words. What behaviors in animals amaze you? 

Spring Thaw

Latuff, 2007

When I went to Cuba in 2010 as part of an American Association of University Women delegation, our group heard the same mantra over and over from every group that met with us – “Please end the blockade.”  We were to take this message (a message, I've come to agree with) back to anyone who might listen.  It was clear that the U.S. trade embargo, enacted in 1959 after Fidel Castro and his brother Raul led a revolution that toppled US-backed President Fulgencio Batista, had more than served its purpose. The Castros, of course, went on to establish a revolutionary socialist state with close ties to the Soviet Union, and the cold-war U.S. was, understandably, on high alert, especially after the Cuban Missile Crisis. 

But, as so many Cubans pointed out to us, 1959 is ancient history in today’s geopolitical arena.  There are countries that pose much greater economic and political threats to the U.S. than Cuba does, and we willingly trade and talk with them.  Why the long-standing cold shoulder?  It was more than punitive.  People in Cuba were suffering, and not just because they couldn’t buy new U.S. cars.  Not only could no U.S. business trade with Cuba, but the U.S. forbid any ship from any other country to dock in any Cuban port before entering the U.S.  Foreign trade ships who did work with Cuba were forced into a charade of stopping at another foreign port, however briefly, before entering U.S. waters in order to keep on our good side.  And Cubans paid the price of this double docking duty.  Anyone who traded with them (and who wished also to trade with the U.S.) had to charge them extra.  What a lot of rigmarole.  Not to mention being overly taxing to the current economy of this struggling country.

Havana, Cuba, 2010

Here’s the good news.  President Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro met at the 7th Summit of the Americas in Panama City, Panama, and announced more progress toward the end of their differences.  The meeting marked the first formal talks between the two countries' leaders in more than half a century, and both leaders expressed hope for, as President Obama put it, “a new relationship between our two countries." 

Cuban President Raul, as expected, called for the lifting of the US economic blockade on Cuba and the country's removal from Washington's list of state sponsors of terrorism.  The Obama administration is expected to remove Cuba from the terrorism list in the coming days, something Latin American and Caribbean leaders welcomed as healing for the region.

The embargo, hopefully, will be the next item on Washington’s agenda. 

A Winner in My Book

I woke up tired yesterday morning. Happy, but tired. I’d stayed up much too late finishing a good book, and I know you understand how much fun that can be. Which book, you ask? None other than Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See, which rightfully placed as a 2014 National Book Award Finalist.

What can I say about this marvel? I was captivated from page one, although I was ready not to be. The story of a blind girl. The story of a Nazi radio whiz. Show me, I thought, in deference to living in the stubborn state of Missouri. Show me how to make that sort of story, those sorts of characters, work.

Hats off to you, Mr. Doerr. Your book has indeed impressed this writer. The book starts at a fast clip and gallops along until the end. Short, tense, lovely chapters. Intriguing, well-portrayed characters. A good dose of history, too – the book details the post-D-day bombing of St.-Malo, France, and the beginning of the end of WWII. What’s not to love? I suggest you delve into this wonder as soon as you can. Even if you lose a little sleep, I bet you’ll be glad you did.

Puppy Kisses

Even though I’m definitely a cat person, I like dogs, too. They’re loyal and playful, loving and spontaneous. But, aside from puppy kisses, I have never been a fan of dog drool. Whether being sprayed by a shaking dog’s slobber or licked as a friendly dog’s greeting, I almost always have the same reaction – get me to a sink.

Don’t hate me for my fastidiousness, though. It seems I could be compromising my health compared to the likes of you who might share your ice cream cone with your favorite canine. Researchers from the University of Arizona and the University of California-San Diego suggest that canine saliva contains essential probiotics that can make dog-owning families healthier than non-dog-owning (and, therefore, non-canine-saliva-exposed) families. Apparently, a study is being readied to confirm these results, and to better understand the link between contact with dog saliva and the reduction of asthmatic, allergic and inflammatory symptoms.

So, go ahead and enjoy those puppy kisses. And, I will, too . . . while I wait and hope for a similar kitty-kiss study.

Funny?

By, Jacky Fleming

To tickle your funny bone (or maybe to irritate it), I've gathered up a gaggle of feminist comics, by some amazingly creative artists, for your Monday musing. Which do you connect with most?

By, Judy Horacek

By, Tom Gauld

By, Barry Deutsch

By, Corinne Mucha

Likeagirl

 I'm a little late in getting on this bandwagon, but I couldn't be more supportive of the recent #likeagirl campaign, started by Always, and exploding like fireworks all over social media.  For years, to be told that one does anything "like a girl" was the gravest of insults.  Why?  Because the phrase supported the stereotype that girls do everything less-well than boys . . . simply because they are girls.

Check out this YouTube Video that nicely explains this stereotype, and which gives us good role models and examples for changing society's ideas about gender roles, expectations and assumptions.  Then, spread the word and help chip away at this common form of sexism.

Words of Wisdom

Today, my friends, is International Women’s Day – the annual holiday to promote equal rights for women. While women have certainly come a long way (baby), there is still much work to be done to ensure that all women are treated as equals to men and that socialized gender inequality is addressed. In the spirit of the day, I offer sage wisdom from wise sages. 

Pick your favorite, please.

1. “Woman is the companion of man, gifted with equal mental capacity.” – Gandhi

2. “The fastest way to change society is to mobilize the women of the world.” – Charles Malik

3. “We've begun to raise daughters more like sons . . . but few have the courage to raise our sons more like our daughters.” – Gloria Steinem

4. “Nobody can make you feel inferior without your permission.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

AND “A woman is like a tea bag – you can't tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

5. “The day will come when men will recognize woman as his peer, not only at the fireside, but in councils of the nation. Then, and not until then, will there be the perfect comradeship, the ideal union between the sexes that shall result in the highest development of the race.” – Susan B. Anthony

6. “Women have served all these centuries as looking glasses possessing the magic and delicious power of reflecting the figure of a man at twice its natural size.” – Virginia Woolf

7. “Human rights are women's rights and women's rights are human rights.” – Hillary Clinton

8. “I measure the progress of a community by the degree of progress which women have achieved.” – B. R. Ambedkar

9. “The question isn't who's going to let me; it's who is going to stop me.” – Ayn Rand

10. “The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any.” – Alice Walker